Marta Andreason, the former Brussels whistle blower sacked by Lord Kinnock, has been blocked from taking a senior position at the European Parliament by MEPs fearful of future ‘scandal’.

Mrs Andreasen was blocked by Christian Democrat and Socialist MEPs from becoming vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s budgetary committee on Monday.

The centre-Right European People’s Party and the Socialists broke parliamentary convention on the allocation of committee posts by demanding a vote by secret ballot to block Mrs Andreasen, who was elected as a Ukip MEP for South East England last month.

Lib Dem MEP for the North-West Chris Davies is not pleased:

… [he] attacked the “shameful decision” to hold a secret ballot so the MEPs could not be “held accountable for their actions”.

“The message it sends to the public is that anyone who speaks out against malpractice in Europe risks being excluded from office,” he said.

Good on Chris, both for sticking up for the EU reform agenda, and for sticking up for due process.